Clare Balding's 'deep' love story with wife Alice Arnold - including wedding nobody attended

Clare Balding, who is taking part in the new series of the BBC's Celebrity Traitors, is one of the most beloved and prolific broadcast journalists in the UK, but was also one of the first British celebrities to get married after same-sex marriage was legalised in 2015. The 54-year-old had already been in a civil partnership with her wife, Alice Arnold, for nine years before they were able to marry. Scroll down to find out everything about their relationship, and Clare's "real, deep love" for Alice…

How long have Clare Balding and Alice Arnold been together?

The two first met back in 1999, when they were both working at the BBC, where Clare still is today. At first, Clare and Alice were just friends but their relationship soon blossomed into something more, and in 2006, they entered into a civil partnership.

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However, when gay marriage was legalised in 2015, they had an official wedding ceremony. Since then, the broadcasters have backdated their marriage, so that they have now been officially married since 2006. During an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, hosted by her Celebrity Traitors co-star, she said of the ceremony: "We didn't have a big party at all, actually. Nobody came apart from us." 

What has Clare Balding said about marriage?

In the same interview, the BBC presenter spoke about same-sex marriage more generally, adding: "It's about equality. It's just about knowing that you can and knowing that you can say: 'I'm married'. And nobody's going to think that's married in inverted commas… I think it's great."

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Speaking exclusively to HELLO! earlier this year, she spoke about how her love story with Alice inspired her new novel, saying: "One of the things I wanted to write about in my novel was about falling because I thought, 'I know that'. I know what real, deep love is and meeting someone I want to grow old with. Lucky, lucky me."

Clare also revealed that, as well as watching television together, they also enjoy golfing and cruising: "Alice and I are about to go from New York up to Quebec and back again and we're going to Japan on a cruise next year. We love being on the water and then ending up in a new place."